Diary of an Arcade Employee

I became a boxer because of “The Perfect Weapon”

That title is a tad misleading. As a kid, I was interested in martial arts, but didn’t really pursue it until I saw the film “The Perfect Weapon” starring Jeff Speakman. I was impressed with the rapid-fire hand strikes he displayed. He was using a martial art known as Kenpo Karate. I eventually found a school that taught Kenpo. However, they taught several styles such as Jun Fan Gung Fu, thaiboxing, Kali, and a few others. When I visited the school, I saw something that almost turned me off; boxing. Sifu Ray Longo explained that at the core of everything they did there was western boxing. I figured I’ll do whatever it takes to learn Kenpo Karate which was taught by another trainer, kickboxer Mike Ryan.

After a week of training, I didn’t think I’d ever get as good as Jeff Speakman. Truth is, I never got as good as Speakman when it came to Kenpo, because I lost my focus. The thing I rejected most about that school became the thing I couldn’t live without; boxing. After a couple of months, it because my sole focus. While I still enjoyed learning these other styles, I couldn’t get enough of boxing and I thank Jeff Speakman’s “The Perfect Weapon” for getting me there. By the way, to this day, when I do train, I have Snap!’s “The Power” which is featured in the film, in my playlist.

Seeker of 1980s nostalgia, rummager of vintage computers and player of retro video games.When not writing posts of The Retroist, I'm converting Retroist audio podcasts to Retroist video podcasts.My own videos can be found at www.YouTube.com/JustinSalvato.